What Ralf Rangnick has been told about Leeds United facing Manchester United at Elland Road

The interim Red Devils boss will face Leeds and Whites head coach Marcelo Bielsa for the first time on Sunday afternoon as the Roses rivals lock horns in West Yorkshire.

Leeds have not played their arch rivals at Elland Road in front of fans in a league game since October 2003, last April's goalless draw played behind closed doors in the country's fight against coronavirus.

The history between the Red Devils and Whites was not on Rangnick's radar upon becoming Manchester United boss, but after dialogue with colleagues that has definitely changed ahead of Sunday's eagerly-awaited clash at Elland Road.

The German boss says he and his side are relishing the prospect of Sunday's Roses derby, and is optimistic that the clash will bring out the best in his side.

Asked if his players were prepared for the atmosphere and animosity at Leeds- and Which rivalries he could draw on in his own experiences in football - Rangnick admitted: "To be honest, I didn't know that until a week ago but most of my colleagues have already indicated that this is probably one of the biggest rivalries in the Premier League.

"But of course, I also had quite a few of those, we call them local derbies in Germany, with Schalke against Borussia Dortmund just to give you one example, and quite a few others.

"But I think our team and our players have so much experience playing against teams like that in this atmosphere that it can also and will, hopefully, raise our performance and our level of performance to play in this environment.

"Last season, they played Leeds behind closed doors because of the Covid restrictions and as far as I know, it's the first game in a full stadium since they last played in the Premier League.

"This is probably 15-20 years ago.

"But, yes, it's great. I think everybody prefers to play in a sold-out stadium, in a full stadium rather than in an empty stadium and therefore it's good.

"We are very much looking forward to that game."

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